Dominoes are believed to have originated in China in the 12th century, although Egyptian or Arabian origins have also been theorized. Dominoes appeared in Italy in the early eighteenth century, and spread to the rest of Europe throughout the remainder the 1700's, becoming one of the most popular games in both family parlors and pubs.
Several types of domino games exist, including single player solitaires and multi-player games. Domino games are played for fun and for money. Generally, domino games begin with the dominoes spread out face-down on a table. The dominoes are manually moved around to shuffle them, and a particular number of dominoes are drawn by each player to form a hand. The object of most domino games is to be the first to get rid of all the dominoes in the player's hand. Some popular domino games include the Draw Game, the Block Game, Muggings, Matador, Bergen, Mexican Train, Chickenfoot, and Forty-Two.